Star Trek Miligian
by Digimon Lantern 1
Summary: NEW CHAPTER: Recovering from the vicious attack, the crew must stop the device before it reaches Vulcan. But one of the crew may not be playing along.
1. Derelict

Star Trek

Miligian

By:

Digimon Lantern 1

Chapter 1

Derelict

"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Your biological..." The Collective sang out its multitude of voices as the Fusion Cube decimated Earth's forces.

Admiral Janeway did not understand why the Borg weren't destroyed when her double from the future. They should have been destroyed. Another plasma torpedo struck _Voyager's_ armor. Paris threw _Voyager_ around in evasive maneuvers but it wouldn't be long. Captain Chakotay was in Sickbay. The final volley of torpedoes were fired towards _Voyager_ and Janeway closed her eyes knowing what her fate was. It never came.

"How?" She asked herself. "Tuvok, what the hell happened?"

"It would appear the torpedoes hit a cloaked vessel. The signature of the cloaking device wavering did not match known technology." Tuvok reported cooly. "It is dropping its cloak."

Janeway looked out and her jaw dropped. It was a derelict. At first glance, she realized it was ancient. It was also very large. A Sovereign-Class ship would be easily dwarfed by this ship. There were no apparent weapons or engines. It was rather plain and smooth in appearance.

"Admiral, that ship's hull consists of a neutronium alloy." Kim reported.

"It's powering up. The Borg are firing." Tuvok said.

During the few minutes that both sides of the conflict had spent gazing at the derelict, the Fusion Cube had repositioned itself to destroy _Voyager_. Torpedoes were fired and were halted by the derelict's shields. The derelict fired some kind of dark torpedo at the Fusion Cube. It struck.

"Seven, what was that?" Janeway asked her.

"I am uncertain. Whatever it was, it is causing the transwarp coils of the Fusion Cube to go critical." Seven told her.

Every ship in the fleet jumped to warp as the enormous explosion went off.

_Voyager_ warped back to the sector with a few other ships. The derelict was still there. Janeway went to Hazard Operations as Hazard Team might be needed.

"We don't know anything about this ship. We aren't sure what we'll encounter over there so I won't make anyone go but what we might find out could help defeat the Borg permanently. So, any volunteers? I need two." Munro said to them.

Soon, Telsia and Chell were in Transporter Room One. They removed their phaser compression rifles and were ready to beam over. Chell was shaking his head.

"I don't know how you manage to talk me into these things, Munro." Chell joked.

"Energize." Munro told the transporter chief.

The away team beamed into the section of the ship they believed to be the bridge. They activated the torches attached to their phaser rifles. Chell opened up his tricorder and began to scan. Munro glanced over at the Bolian who's face was filled with awe.

"Find something interesting, Chell?" Munro asked him.

"You might say that." Chell said. "My tricorder is barely able to analyze the technology."

"Dampening field?" Telsia asked glancing over at her friend.

"No, the technology around is taxing the scanning ability of the tricorder. I don't think I could tell you where the lighting control is." Chell said to them.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Lieutenant Munro's mind, "Lights." He said.

The dark bridge lit up and a very alien bridge became visible. Munro tapped his commbadge.

"Munro to _Voyager_, we're on the alien ship's bridge. From what I can tell, this ship hasn't had a crew in centuries." Munro said as he made a line in the layers of dust on a panel.

Munro looked around the bridge. Suddenly, the team were surrounded by dark energy fields and Munro hit his commbadge.

"Munro to _Voyager_. The derelict's internal defense systems have been activated. Can you beam us out?" He asked them.

"Trying." Transporter Chief Hunt said to him. Over the comm channel, they heard a panel overload and a scream.

"Lieutenant Munro, this is Tuvok. We can not transport you back. You must lower the internal defense systems before we can beam you out."

"Easier said than done." Chell said to Munro under his breath.

The field crackled and the last thing he saw was the floor.

Commander Debbie Cathey was on a bench outside the Forbidden City. She watched as a middle-aged red haired woman walked over to her and sat down next to her. Though it was against the dress code of a Starfleet Officer, she wore a pair of round dark sunglasses. Cathey handed a PADD to the woman. Based on the rank insignia, the older woman was a Fleet Admiral.

"Your information is distressing. How could you lose it?" She asked.

"It was lost in Romulan space. The weapon appears to have fallen victim to an unknown quantum singularity while on course." Cathey reported to her. "I would believe we are fortunate that Captain Picard managed to destroy Shinzon. It would have been difficult to explain what would have happened."

The woman next to her glared at her. She didn't seem at all pleased about this news. A simple look told the younger woman to continue.

"I don't know if you have heard but Admiral Janeway has lost contact with her Hazard Team. They still don't know what happened." Cathey told her.

"Wasn't her assignment involving that unknown alien vessel that was involved with the Borg conflict?" Glasgow asked.

Cathey passed the admiral a PADD. "According to Admiral Janeway's report, this ship's hull is composed of a neutronium alloy. A few members of our organization would love to get their hands or claws or etc on that technology." She told her.

"Do what it takes to secure that ship." Glasgow ordered. "I have to go. Admiral Ross has a meeting scheduled." She tapped her commbadge. "Glasgow to _Dragon_. Beam me directly to Starfleet Command."

"Acknowledged." The voice on the other end said.

Admiral Glasgow beamed away leaving Debbie Cathey alone.


	2. The Sun Bringer, Part One

I DON'T OWN STAR TREK

Chapter 2

U.S.S. Miligian

The Sun Bringer, Part One

A Few Years Later...

Captain David Sullivan just gazed out the shuttlecraft's "windshield". This ship was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Instead of discernable nacelles or even a saucer section, the entire ship appeared more like an ancient artillery shell. Sharp ridges were scattered randomly on the hull. Something about this ship told him that this ship was very old, but no sign of age could be seen on its hull.

"Over 1.2 kilometers, fifty-seven decks, we don't even know what its top speed is yet." Admiral Ross said to Sullivan. "You can find that out yourself."

"Sir, I've heard a few rumors that my first officer is a Romulan Sub-Commander and my tactical officer is a Klingon officer." Sullivan asked. "Is that true?"

Admiral Ross looked puzzled. The look faded away. "Yes, its true. The Romulans found out about it at around the same time as the Klingons. Neither side was willing to let us have it exclusively so we came to a compromise." He said to the captain. "I hope this won't be a problem."

Sullivan shook his head. "Of course not, sir. I was merely curious. Will you be the one escorting me around my ship?" He asked.

"No." Ross replied. "I have to get back to Starfleet Command for a briefing with the top brass. Your science officer, Ensign Emily Giano will be the one to have that honor. She's quite an expert."

The shuttle entered the shuttlebay of the massive vessel. A brilliant light that seemed almost blinding filled the viewport and the lieutenant piloting stabbed the comm panel.

"Turn down the lights!" He yelled.

The light dimmed and the shuttlebay's interior became visible. Shortly, the shuttle landed and the hatch opened. Ross shook his head.

"I wish I could show you around but I have to get back." Ross said to him.

"Don't worry sir. I'm sure Ensign Giano will be more than able to help me." Sullivan said to him.

The shuttlecraft departed and Sullivan turned and bumped into a blond-haired ensign. She dropped a dozen PADDs and cursed as she tried to pick all of them up. Sullivan crouched down and began to help her pick them up.

"I don't believe this." She began to say on the verge of shedding tears. "Lt. Mitchell was making me take these freaking PADDs to Chief Gomez. Why he couldn't leave it in the computer and have Gomez retrieve it; I don't have a clue. I'm sorry I bumped into you but I'm suppose to show the captain and I barely know my way around here in the first place. Who are you, anyway?"

"Captain David Sullivan, I assume you are Ensign Emily Giano." He replied with a smile on his face.

"Oh, shit. That must have been the worst impression I could have given you." She said with tears in her eyes. "I know that I probably wasn't your first choice as a Chief Science Officer but when I was offered the position, I was stupid enough to accept it."

He grabbed her on an arm. "Calm down, I couldn't think of anyone better. Your work in solar dynamics helped save the Eaglean system from being destroyed by a supernova. It saved millions of lives."

She pushed her long blond hair back. "The evidence was already there. I just was able to piece it together in the right way."

"But you were able to make senior officers see what you saw and you were able to save them all. You received the Eaglean Golden Feather of Honor. That's one of their highest awards. I couldn't have had a better choice for a CSO. Now, chin up." He said raising her chin with her hand. "Calm down. That's an order."

She appeared to compose herself and picked up the PADDs. Chief Gomez walked over to Giano and took the PADDs. She grabbed him by a shoulder.

"Next time you need some information from Mitchell, have it on the computer or your sonic shower might mysteriously malfunction and remove all the hair on your body." Giano said to him.

With a confused look on his face, he asked. "Is that a threat ma'am?"

"You should know that threats against fellow officers are against regulations. That was a merely a promise." She said laughing leading the new captain away.

Their first stop was main engineering. Sullivan was embarrassed at the fact that this room was massive. A gigantic device in the center of the room pulsated with a crimson glow. He saw a Lt. Commander pointing directions to other engineers. Giano seemed to have a smile on her face as she walked over to the railing and peered at the engineer.

"Garcia, how are you coming with the engines?" She asked him.

As if his attention was suddenly caught, Garcia turned around. He was on a lower level so he climbed up a ladder and met them on their level. His uniform was filthy and his hair was a mess.

"Captain, may I introduce you to Lt. Commander Jeremiah Garcia, our chief engineer." She said.

"A pleasure." Sullivan said.

"Same here." Garcia said. "Em, the jump drive is still being realigned since the last time we used it. I think I can get it online in a couple of hours. Nice to meet you, sir, but I have a lot of work to do."

Garcia went back to work and they exited main engineering. As they were walking down the corridor, Sullivan turned to the young ensign.

"Is he always like that?" He asked.

"Most of the time. I'll let you know though. He is one of the best. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here. Captain Scott personally recommended him. Said something about he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty a wee bit." Giano told him. "Before this, he was the chief engineer onboard the S.C.E vessel, the Wright. During the war, the Wright was beaten to a bloody pulp by five Jem Hadar fighters. They barely managed to escape. With major systems damage, he kept that ship together and away from those fighters till they got back to Starbase 619. It caused him a lot of pain when they had to scrap her, but the cost wasn't worth it."

They continued on and entered a turbolift. After taking it down a few decks, they exited and continued their walk.

"I thought you should meet the CMO, Doctor Draco Ling. A lot of the other officers find his appearance a little startling at first. Personally, I don't see why." She said as they were entering the sickbay.

Sullivan was surprised to see who the chief medical officer was. It was a massive Gorn. Standing a little over three meters tall, he had the frame that any football player would have killed for. The medical blue uniform seemed nearly stretched to its limits. He was barefoot as regulation boots wouldn't have fit him. His deep ruby colored eyes seemed very attentive to his work. It seemed like whatever Dr. Ling was working on. It had his whole attention. Only when Ensign Giano tapped him twice on the shoulder did he notice them.

"Oh, hello. You must be Captain Sullivan. I'm afraid I have to postpone your physical till a later date. I'm still fighting with Supply attempting to get my non-replicatable medical supplies. They are being quite stubborn." Dr. Ling said.

"Not a problem, Dr. Ling. I must say that you'll be the first Gorn I'll have the pleasure of serving with." Sullivan replied. "On that supply issue, anything I can do to help."

With what appeared to be a grin on his face, Dr. Ling said. "Nothing legal I'm afraid. Don't worry, I'll have the supplies before we ship out. Now, if you'll excuse me."

They left sickbay and proceeded to enter a turbolift. Giano smiled as they exited it. The captain knew that this was the bridge. The helm station as well as the view screen was in front of the chamber. The center chair held a female Romulan officer who was attentive to her duties. Sullivan noticed that her uniform wasn't as militaristic as he had known. In fact, he wasn't sure that it was a uniform. A closer inspection showed him that it was actually a T-shirt and a pair of Levi's. Her hair also appeared to have been dyed red. She noticed him quickly.

"Captain Sullivan, welcome aboard. I'm sorry you haven't been able to me Kremor, Son of Gremar, but he is personally inspecting the weapon systems of the Miligian." She said. "_It is his duty as weapons officer to familiarize himself with the weapons._"

"No problem, I'm sure I'll eventually meet him." Sullivan replied. "Nice impression of him."

Giano gestured to the captain and they continued the tour going through another door. It was an office like room.

"This must be my ready room." Sullivan said walking around the room. He turned to face Giano and saw she didn't dare enter. Her head was lowered and she seemed to be trying to suppress her tears. "Come in, ensign. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said walking in. She walked over to the desktop terminal and pressed a key. A large group of data appeared. "I had been reading the translated logs of this vessel's late captain and I feel like I've known him all my life. I've brought the logs up because I thought they might be helpful to you."

She left him alone and he sat down and a message appeared. He was puzzled.

"_Open bottom left-hand drawer_." He read following the instructions. Sullivan pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels as well as two intricately etched bourbon glasses. With a smile on his face, he read on. "_Welcome aboard. From Ensign Giano._"

Two Weeks Later...

_BUUURR-BUP_

"Enter." Sullivan said.

Lenar entered the ready room. It had been two weeks since they left Utopia Planetia and he still couldn't get her out of the outfit.

"What are you reading, sir?" She asked.

"Captain Glgra's logs. He's had a very sad life." Sullivan said. "Apparently, this ship's creators, the Miligians, were involved in a war with a race called Wizarans. Even after the Wizarans destroyed the Miligian's homeworld, this war continued for years until the Wizarans infected them with a bio-weapon that painfully ate away at themselves. Finally, he gave the order to vent the atmosphere of the ship to spare his crew any further pain. He had an argument with another officer named Imaladin about this but she capitulated."

"That must have been a hard decision." She said. "Oh yeah, Admiral Glasgow is hailing you."

"Thanks." He said shoeing her away. He tapped his console. "Admiral, a pleasure to see you again."

"Let's skip the pleasantries, Sullivan. The fleet has been put under high alert because of this." Glasgow said switching to a binary star system.

"That isn't the Amardin System, is it?" Sullivan asked.

"Yes, it is. We don't know what exactly happened." Glasgow said a little displeased. "I'd like for the Miligian to investigate this matter. If it's the result of something artificial, it would be in everyone's best interest to deal with it quickly."

"Understood. Miligian out." He said closing the channel.

He got out of his chair and walked out onto the bridge. Sullivan walked out onto the bridge with a swift stride. He turned toward the helmsman.

"Helm, set course for the Amardin System. Maximum warp." He ordered.

"_Bridge, this is Engineering. There's something I've been wanting to try and it could get us there quicker than the warp drive._" Garcia chimed in from Engineering.

"Garcia, you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Giano asked him. "If you are though, let's do it."

Sullivan held his hands up. "Okay. Should someone tell the captain what the hell you are thinking about? Oh, wait. I'm the captain. So, what the hell do you think you are going to do now?" He asked.

"Sir, the Miligians had developed a form of propulsion that roughly translated is called a Jump Drive. It would probably take five days, seventeen hours, forty-seven minutes, and fifty-nine seconds to reach the Amardin system. The jump drive would cut that time to about forty-seven minutes." Giano said.

With a look of surprise, he nodded and sat down in the center captain's chair. Giano turned around in her chair at the main science station located at the port side of the bridge. Rapidly, she began to type commands into the console. In Engineering, Garcia was having his fellow engineers almost flying around the bay. Sullivan saw the surrounding space seem to crackle with energy and suddenly, he felt a shift in space. The viewscreen now shown a bright fuschia.

"We will be arriving in the Amardin System in forty-seven minutes." Giano reported.

"What if we needed to change course. Let's say Romulus." Lenar asked.

"Forty-seven minutes." Giano told her.

"Why does it take forty-seven minutes?" Sullivan asked.

"I don't know." She said shrugging her shoulders. "It just does."

Lenar turned toward Sullivan. "Why are we headed to the Amardin System anyway?" She asked.

Sullivan laid back in his chair with his hands on the back of his head. "Starfleet lost contact with the Amardin Three colony. We're going to investigate." He said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have lunch."

She laid back in her chair after closing the channel. Cathey was standing in front of her desk. The young commander didn't seem pleased. Glasgow, however, seemed to have quite the opposite attitude.

"If they find out that we were the ones responsible for what happened, it could be disastrous." Cathey said. "Admiral, why send that ship?"

"Because, we lost control of the Sun Bringer. I still think we should have used it upon the Founders' Homeworld when we had the chance but Sloan thought his damn virus was going to work. My solution would have been quicker and the Romulans wouldn't have become 'allies' of the Federation." Glasgow stated to her. "The Miligian seems like it would have the best chance of destroying it. So, on to other matters. What is the situation with Necheyev?"

"Everything is in place, Admiral. Soon, you will have greater control over the fleet." She said to her.

Glasgow smiled. "And the blame for this one goes to?" She asked.

"Militant members of Ambassador Spock's Vulcan-Romulan Unification movement. This will also take care of the risk of Spock being tortured for Federation secrets." She said with a grin. "Do you approve?"

"I'm quite delighted." Glasgow said turning her chair towards the large bay window behind her. "You may go."

When they emerged from jump space as it began to be called, everyone had a look of shock on their faces. Where Amardin Three had been, a brilliant sun shone in its place. Sullivan had to push himself out of his chair to stand up from the shock of it.

"That can't be Amardin Three." Sullivan said. "How could it happen like that?"

Kremor looked up from his console. He was clad in Klingon armor like any of his kind would be.

"Receiving a signal from a navigational buoy. That is Amardin Three." He said with a little shock.

Sullivan walked over to Giano who was already busy working on the question at hand. He rested a hand on the side of the alcove where the science station was at.

"I think that this was caused by a super-heated proto-matter stream. The signature of the wave resonance I'm detecting is familiar." She stated rapidly pressing in commands. Suddenly, she placed her hands on her forehead and mumbled something to herself. "I can't believe I didn't realize it."

"What?" He asked.

"The Enterprise, at the time of Admiral's Kirk's command of its second five-year mission, encountered a similar wave. A group led by Khan stole the device and it was detonated." She said to him.

"The Genesis Device, but how could you superheat the proto-matter and utilize it as a stream?" Sullivan asked her.

"Maybe if you used trilithium. At the right frequency, proto-matter could travel on a stream projected by the trilithium. The stream would then heat up the proto-matter and execute the pre-programmed parameters could cause this." Giano told him.

He shook his head. "But what would be the delivery system?" He asked.

"How about something 470 meters long?" Lenar asked.

This comment snapped the two of them out of their scientific debate and they looked at the viewscreen. The device they saw looks like an abnormally large probe. It didn't seem like any danger.

"There appears to be proto-matter contained within it." Giano told Sullivan.

"Sir, it has detected us." Kremor told them. "It is moving to intercept and is charging weapons."

"Raise shields. Helm, take evasive action. If that thing can turn a planet into a star, I don't want to even think about what it could do to us." Sullivan ordered.

The Miligian barely managed to get out of the way as the first stream was fired from the probe. Everyone could see the chain reaction beginning to take place as the stream impacted with Amardin Three's only moon. Quickly, the stream transformed the moon's properties from a solid to a gas. The stream generated solar fusion and with a brilliant flash of light, the moon was now a star. It was shocking, to say the least. However, the shock wore off as the probe fired a second stream upon them.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. The Sun Bringer, Part Two

I DON'T OWN STAR TREK

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Chapter 3

The Sun Bringer, Part Two

"_Captain's log. Stardate 83572.9. We have received orders to proceed at maximum warp to the Amardin system to investigate the whereabouts of the U.S.S. Miligian. This isn't very comforting to the crew for very obvious reasons. If the Miligian had been destroyed by hostile action, then what chance does our ship have?"_

"Captain, we've located the Miligian." Commander Hunt reported from his tactical station.

They magnified on the image and were shocked at what they saw. The Miligian's neutronium hull had been blackened and several sections of the hull were red with heat. Hull breaches were abundant.

"Life signs?" Captain Whitten asked.

"Remarkable." Hunt reported. "I'm showing that most of the crew is still alive."

"Assemble an away team. We need to help them." Whitten told him.

Hunt and three others beamed onto the bridge. The bridge lights were sporadic revealing heavy damage. They activated hand lights and looked around the bridge and saw a blond ensign at the science station. She was tapping in commands and hadn't seemed to notice them. Hunt walked toward the station.

"Is there something I can do to help you?" She asked.

This threw Hunt a little off balance. "I'm Commander Andrew Hunt of the Starship Paladin. Who are you? Where is Captain Sullivan?" He said.

"Ensign Emily Giano, this ship's chief science officer." She told them continuing with her work. "Captain Sullivan is in sickbay being treated for burns by Doctor Ling. You might want to contact the Paladin and tell them to adjust their shields to a frequency of 47.98. That will keep them safe from the massive solar waves I've been registering between the Amardin Three sun and it's orbiting sun."

"Fortunately, I've been keeping an open comm link with the Paladin. What have you been doing?" He replied.

"I rerouted helm and shield control to my station here attempting to keep this ship together. Garcia has been directing the ship's self-repair system to help with the repairs. That reminds me." Giano said tapping her comm badge. "Giano to Lenar, the Paladin has arrived and has sent an away team over."

"_Thanks. I'm on my way."_ Lenar said.

Hunt walked over to her console. "What is going on?" He asked. "Last time I checked, this system had only one star in it. Not three."

Giano shrugged. "It happens when a device fires a proto-matter beam with the same signature as the Genesis device." She replied tapping in more commands. "Fortunately, the Miligian's shields held out for most of the attack. Then, the neutronium hull saved us until I was able to configure a feedback pulse which I think damaged it enough for it to cut off the beam and move away from us. It left the system about two hours ago."

A look of shock washed over Hunt's face. "Are you telling me you let it get away?" He asked her about at the point of yelling. "Why haven't you sent out a priority one alert?"

She shook her head. "Gee, Commander. I don't really know. With the damage that we've sustained, could it be that the communication systems were damaged and that Lieutenant Commander Garcia has been busy repairing more critical systems." She said.

Before Hunt could reply, Lenar got out of the turbolift. There was a gash on the right side of her face and she had a smile on her face.

"Garcia says he might be able to get the self-repair system online in a few minutes." She says before noticing the away team. "Did the Paladin send the priority one message?"

Hunt nodded. "Yes, they sent it the moment Ensign Giano reported it to us. Now, what can we do to help?"

Location: Romulas Capital, Romulas

Outside the Romulan Senate

An inferno had erupted taking the visiting Starfleet Admiral Necheyev as well as the new Praetor. No one had any idea what was going on. The civilians were in chaos but he knew what was going on. The centurion went through the ground and he pushed civilians out of the way. He had his eyes focused on his target. Whatever this agent was, he was bad at his job. Any competent agent of any agency would have joined the crowd running away. He was walking too calmly. He overheard someone yelling about the Vulcan-Romulan Unification movement but he knew that it was merely hysteria. The subject's ears were rounded, not pointed. His stride was too calm as if he didn't believe he'd be caught. This subject never looked behind him which was his mistake. The centurion reached from behind the suspect and applied the Vulcan nerve pinch. He found out that his suspect was male. Further inspection revealed to him that he appeared to be human-like. A look over his shoulder shown him that Senate Security Forces were converging on the idiot. The centurion heaved the suspect over his shoulder and walked away.

_Captain's Log. Stardate 83579.9. I've recovered from the burns I sustained during the probe's attack and have resumed my duty. Garcia has informed me that we've lost Jump capability, not that I had any idea what 'jumping' was despite Ensign Giano's explanation. She has informed me that she has detected a trail of superheated proto-matter leading away from the system. The Miligian and the Paladin are proceeding at maximum warp along the trail. At the moment, Giano, Kremor, and Garcia are working on a way to disable the weapon._

"That won't work, Kremor!" Giano yelled at him. "Torpedoes would be vaporized in the proto-matter stream before it could create the desired effect."

"I still do not understand why we are trying to disable this device. We should be able to easily destroy this weapon before more lives are lost." Kremor told her.

Giano got up and tapped a few commands into the center console of the room that they were in. A holographic schematic of the weapon appeared and she pointed to several sections of it.

"This weapon has several independent shield systems. We could be destroyed before we got through two, maybe three." She said. "We might take out four or five but we'd lose thousands of lives and still not destroy it."

This appeared to make the Klingon think. He rested his hands on the console. "Didn't you say that you re-modulated the structural integrity field and it sent a feedback pulse that caused the weapon to disengage the beam?" He asked.

She seemed a little confused. "Yah. It seemed like it might have caused slight damage to it." She answered.

Kremor tapped his comm badge. "Kremor to Garcia. If we rerouted all available power to the shields and put ourselves in the path of the proto-matter beam, how long would the shields last?" He asked.

"_Here's a better question. Why the hell would we want to put ourselves in the beam's path in the first place?" _Garcia asked.

"Just answer the damn question." Kremor asked.

"_I don't know. The jump drive is still generating full power but rerouting all power to shields would keep them sustain for thirty minutes, maybe." _Garcia said.

"Emily, how long do you think it would take to overload the beam projector?" Kremor asked her.

She was shaking her head as he asked the question. "When I had realigned the structural integrity field, the beam cut off automatically. But..."

"...if we can discharge all of the energy we've rerouted to the shields, it would cause a cascade effect that would travel up the beam and cause the weapon's supply of trilithium to overload and presumably taking the proto-matter with it." Giano told the group. "I developed a program to track the weapon and hopefully we can intercept it before it reaches a populated system."

They were in what was used by the Miligians as their briefing room. It was a round table setup with an intricately designed table. There wasn't any interface screens on the walls because the Miligians had chosen for some reason to display such information, holographically. Because it wasn't a critical system, Garcia hadn't installed an interface screen on the wall. Sullivan bent forward slightly. He had a look on his face that made everyone consider the fact that he didn't like this idea.

"What is the potential damage to the Miligian?" He asked.

"Severe." Giano answered. "When the discharge occurs, we will still be caught in the path of the proto-matter beam. I think ninety-five to one hundred percent of the hull will be damaged. There will be breaches but several of the Miligian's self-repair measures will engage to combat this."

"I have a better idea." Garcia said looking towards the holographic display. "Computer, bring up the ship schematic."

With no delay, the alien ship's schematic was before them and Garcia brought their attention to an area of the ship. "This section acts as a refitting bay for Miligian ships. We can pull the Paladin in and refit it with a jump drive and..." He began to say before he was interrupted.

"It won't work. Jump space would tear apart the hull of the Paladin. But our extinct benefactors had other forms of travel. A chrysalis drive would be a major upgrade for the Paladin and would allow them to jump into the stream, lock a tractor beam onto the Miligian, and chrysalis out to bring us to safety." Giano informed them.

"As Captain Picard would say, make it so." Sullivan told them.

Seventeen hours later, the Miligian and the Paladin warp into the Vulcan system. According to Giano's scanning program, the probe was headed there and they had to intercept. Only fifty-seven starships were available to intercept it. Unfortunately, a lot of them were older vessels that would probably amount to little more than cannon fodder. The flagship of this fleet was the U.S.S. Dragon, commanded by Admiral Patricia Glasgow.

The good admiral was sitting in her ready room. Unlike most ready rooms, it was a lot more natural in appearance. The hardwood floors and the oak desk made it have a tranquil feel to it. Glasgow was a nature lover and loved almost any planet's plant life. The plants in her office, all of the automatic timers, made it more natural. Her ready room doors opened with a hiss and she already knew who it was. Commander Cathey walked in and set down a PADD and she walked out without saying a word. Admiral Glasgow ran her thumb print through and the message appeared.

To: The Emerald Dragon

From: The Little Hydra

Message: Plan developed to destroy Apollo's Chariot.

If Chains are located, will destroy Hercules.

The encryption virus destroyed the message and fried the iso-linear chip. She placed the PADD in a drawer so that later, a eager young ensign could come in and take it to be recycled. Hopefully, Little Hydra wouldn't fail her.

"There." Garcia said to the ensign from the Paladin. "Your chrysalis drive is on-line. Now, I need to return to the Miligian to get it ready over there."

"Thank you, sir." The ensign said thanking him. "Ever since Chief Jefferies passed away, I've been trying to keep up but I haven't been able to."

Garcia put a hand on the ensign's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about."

Garcia left the ensign to do his duties and returned to the Miligian via the Paladin's transporter room. Without hesitation, he returned to his quarters to see a haunting message.

To: Sub-Commander Lenar

First Officer

Federation Starship Miligian

From: Centurion Havok

Tal Shiar

Romulus

Message: Starfleet Admiral Necheyev has been assassinated.

Official report links the attack to Federation Ambassador Spock's Unification Faction.

_**DO NOT BELIEVE.**_

Have recovered own suspect.

Believe him to be Federation Section 31 Agent.

Will relay further information.

Garcia read the message and shook his head. He wished that it didn't have to be this way but he had no choice. A few taps in the console initiated the automated program for the Paladin. There was no need to delete the message because in a few minutes, it wouldn't matter. He picked up his portable messaging device or PMD and sent a message to the Admiral.

To: The Emerald Dragon

From: The Little Hydra

Message: Evidence that chains will be found.

Hercules Undone.

He set down the PMD and laid down on his bed. With his tongue, he clicked the false molar and the phostan chip began to break down. A painless death awaited him unlike the rest of the crew.

The device warped into the system and automatically began to attack the fleet. Three Miranda-Class ships were the first to go. The U.S.S. Challenger then tried to protect the Dragon from a full volley but became a brilliant flower of an antimatter explosion. Sullivan shook his head. He'd seen enough.

"Kremor, tell the Paladin we're proceeding with the plan." Sullivan told him. "Helm, take us in."

The Miligian moved through space, closely followed by the Paladin, towards the device. It apparently recognized them from their previous encounter and changed its tactics. Giano detected it powering up.

"Powering shields to maximum." Kremor stated.

"Activating shield discharge program." Giano reported.

The device fired the proto-matter beam and it struck the shields hard. As hard as the alien environmental systems could try, the temperature on the bridge began to rise. Giano was hurrying through the steps of the program and she was finally ready after ten minutes.

"Discharge in five...four...three...two...one!" She yelled.

"The Miligian has discharged the wave." Cathey reported from the Dragon's science station.

"Inform the Paladin to proceed with Stage Two." Glasgow ordered.

"Engage the chrysalis drive." Captain Whitten ordered.

Outside of the ship, the artificial super-string material began to form and suddenly collapsed. Several hull breaches and darkened sections could clearly be seen.

"Engineering, what the hell happened!" Commander Hunt yelled.

" The components for the chrysalis drive have just gave out." Chief Daniels informed the bridge. "I don't understand this. Lieutenant Commander Garcia installed those systems himself. They shouldn't have gave out like that."

"Inform Captain Sullivan, he's on his own." Whitten said with a solemn tone.

"CAPTAIN!" Kremor yelled. "Message from the Paladin. Their chrysalis drive has just given out. They suspect sabotage."

"Great, does anyone have any bright ideas?" Sullivan asked.

Giano stared intensely at the sensor data she was receiving. She tapped a few more commands into the console.

"I do." She told the captain tapping the console.

The sparkle of the Miligian's transporter enveloped her and she was gone from the bridge. Lenar's head turned to Kremor.

"Where did she go?" She asked.

With a perplexed look, he said. "Shuttlebay One."

Giano threw herself into one of the Miligian shuttlecrafts and began to start it up. A panel lit up with Sullivan's face on it. She ignored it.

"Ensign Giano, what are you doing?" He asked.

"My bright idea." Giano said to her captain. "The device is severely damaged but still capable of destroying Vulcan. Trust me on this one."

"Go." Sullivan said to her.

She tapped in the commands to open the shuttlebay doors but they failed to open. Shaking her head, she said. "Engineering is going to hate me for this."

Another tapped command activated the chrysalis drive. The artificial superstring material began to appear and were directed forward. The azure strings' gravity well tore apart the doors and opened them to the proto-matter storm. Giano guided the shuttle out of the ship and her face struck the console violently but she stayed conscious. As she propelled the shuttle against the fury of the proto-matter beam, the partially formed superstring material began to crush the incoming proto-matter. She neared the device and locked a tractor beam. Pouring all the power she could, she expanded the superstring material around the device. When it was fully expanded, the device and the shuttle were shot away.

"Where is she?" Sullivan asked.

The moment he said that, the Miligian's transporter turned on again and Ensign Giano appeared on the bridge. She was badly burned and her uniform was little more than rags. Her head turned and Sullivan was shocked to see a smile on her face.

"It...worked..." She barely whispered.

"Emergency medical transport." Sullivan exclaimed. "Get her to Sickbay."

_Captain's Log: Stardate 83580.1. The device has been destroyed, thanks to Ensign Giano's impromptu maneuver. This horrific device is resting comfortably in a quantum singularity that the Starship Voyager encountered over ten years ago. To be honest, it was rather uncomfortable watching Doctor Ling doing his best work for her. I guess it's just a natural human reaction to reptiles and snakes. The colony ships that had been recalled to return most of Vulcan's population to their homeworld. It came as no surprise to me that they had such an orderly evacuation. I'm sure the return will be just as orderly. On a sad note, Lieutenant Commander Jeremiah Garcia has passed away. At this time, Doctor Ling is unclear on the cause of death. He was an excellent officer._

Sullivan entered Sickbay and saw Ensign Giano resting on a bio-bed. Ling's deep-red ruby eyes saw Sullivan and he walked over to him. In his right claw, Ling held a PADD which he handed to the captain.

"A phostan chip?" Sullivan read questioning the result. "He killed himself. Why?"

As if to answer his question, Lenar came up from behind him with her own PADD. She handed it to him. Sullivan read the message she had received.

"Who is this Havok?" He asked.

"My brother." Lenar informed him. "He's a centurion who works for the Tal Shiar. If he suspects anything, he's usually right."

"When repairs are completed, we're going to Romulus." Sullivan ordered.


End file.
